Owing to the various requirements and vulnerabilities identified in its assessment of the requirements for proper management of documentation at mines, solutions integrator company Datacentrix has created a roadmap to increase the SAP footprint within organisations and ensure version control and the digitisation of documents, which is crucial to plant maintenance.

“In the past, the systems, applications and products (SAP) in data processing systems scheduled maintenance for the plant machin- ery and associated documents often did not accompany the order, resulting in time being lost and extra effort being required to obtain the necessary documents to fulfil the maintenance order.

“Currently, Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) legislation and other Acts govern the way in which documents should be managed in the mining industry. The department also carries out audits at mines, which stipulate that mines have to adhere to strict document control policies and standards. The DMR issues fines when it has found discrepancies in the management of documents, and could close shafts and/or mines,” explains Datacentrix solutions manager Warren Buss.

The company states that the end-to-end process of maintenance should also be taken into consideration and include the buyer who is responsible for buying new parts, the maintenance planner who decides when the required maintenance must be executed, the stores personnel who issue spare parts, the artisans or technicians who execute the job and the maintenance manager who keeps records of maintenance tasks completed.

Therefore, Datacentrix, in partnership with software solutions provider Cideon Software, has worked on the implementation of a supplementary product to SAP to expand existing functionality and include the digital handling of all documents and drawings integrated into the business processes related to engineering, maintenance and goods receiving, as well as computer-aided-design software integration.

“The company provides proper document- and records-management solutions, depending on the software the company uses. The solution is electronic document software, where there is complete control not only of the documents themselves but also of their correct version, access control and full audit trials. The whole approval cycle and access to documents are done electronically,” adds Buss.

Datacentrix says its electronic documenta- tion solutions allow for users at the plants to access the latest version of the document.

Given the constant technology changes and improvements, Datacentrix provides training for the users of the solution to ensure that it is used effectively to complete the task at hand.

“As part of a project, we offer a training phase to train the staff on site to train people who will work with the electronic document- and records-management solution. We also represent the Association for Image and Information Management (AIIM) and provide training on enterprise information management (EIM) in South Africa on its behalf.

“Our training usually takes three to five days. We bring them up to speed on how the solution works, theoretically, and also provide training on the technical aspects of how to use the product,” states Buss.

He mentions that, although the solution makes maintenance more efficient, the resistance to changing to electronic documentation by personnel remains a challenge, as people are still accustomed to the hard copy documentation system.

The Datacentrix EIM business unit is a recognised leader in the field of EIM, which includes enterprise content management, imaging and scanning (capture), document management, records management, email management, knowledge and information management, forms management, collaboration and Web content management, data and document archiving and mobile solutions.

Datacentrix has been an accredited training provider for the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Certificate Education Programme of the AIIM, also known as the ECM Association, since 2006. The AIIM is the international authority on EIM and the programmes were developed to arm organisations with the knowledge and education to anticipate and avoid business information mistakes.

The company has the largest number of certified AIIM masters in Southern Africa as part of the permanent staff complement, and it provides organisations with an overall EIM solution that can be used throughout the organisation.

Datacentrix ensures that intuitive and scalable EIM solutions become embedded and integral to business processes and an essential part of business success – con- sidering the shared EIM needs across all functions of organisations, as well as the capabilities of each EIM component, such as document management, records management, Web content management and forms management.